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I look at this picture and I see two women who were divinely placed in my life a decade ago. They have been impactful and influential leaders for me, and have grown to be dear friends and confidants. God has been abundantly lavish in His provision of amazing people in my life.

I also see an open door, with bright lights to greet upon entry, and action being taken to walk through the door. This is a picture of the choice we get to make everyday, in fact every moment: Look for the opportunity. See the door. Take action. I have grown to embrace the truth that every moment is an opportunity. Every.single.moment. With each breath we take, set before us is the choice of…

seeing opportunities or obstacles

thoughts that lead to life, or those that lead to destruction

moments to take action or cave to the lie of procrastination that promises it will be easier tomorrow

acknowledging, affirming and praising or remaining silent

being present in the moment or keep scrolling

getting out of bed or hitting snooze

choosing gratitude for what has been provided or anxiety about what you do not have

And the list goes on and on.

Isn’t it amazing that we GET to choose?! We have the free will and privilege to choose! We create the life we expect through our thoughts and choices. It is easy to default to thinking our circumstances are out of our control or that we have been dealt the wrong cards. And although we all have situations we did not choose, for the most part, our lives are exactly what we have created them to be and only we can take responsibility for that. Even in the deep darkness of what we did not choose, we still have a choice. The part that is confusing is that we all have an abundance of both opportunities AND obstacles. I have so many opportunities and I have so many obstacles. So do you. Obstacles are big and ugly and loud and usually easy to see. It takes a trained, developed, wise and astute eye to search for and find the opportunities, often hidden behind the big, ugly, obnoxious obstacles.

Back to the picture. Those wide open doors with bright lights on the other side are EVERYWHERE. Every moment brings with it an open door and bright lights. Pause for a minute to embrace that. Every.single.moment. In my darkest hours, filled with the burden of anxiety and the confusion of life, I can still choose to see grace for another day to live and provision of more than I need. Grace and provision: there’s the open door with bright lights I can choose to walk through. Or not. It’s my choice. One leads to life, the other to destruction.

What gifts of opportunity are hidden behind your ugly obstacles? Look for them. They are there. Where are your open doors and bright lights? I promise you have more than you realize. Look for them. Find them. And walk through.

Ok, party people, I am resurrecting this blog I started back in 2016. Serious bloggers have enough content to post once a week and they even know the perfect time to post to incite the most engagement. I am an amateur blogger (that might even be too generous), so I’m going to go with the flow and post as I am inspired to, with the hopes of one day having enough content to post every week, at the perfect time. (Check out my archived posts from back in 2016. Has it really been 2 years?)

Let’s start with a question. What are you passionate about? Did something pop into your mind immediately? A passion of mine is people living all-out, all-in, operating at the highest and best version of who they were created to be. When you are fully living and expressing who you are, and using all talents, resources, and gifts to your fullest capacity, the world changes. And God is glorified. I love this quote by CS Lewis from Screwtape Letters: “The deepest likings and impulses of any person are the raw material, the starting point, with which God has furnished them.” We have all been furnished with “deep likings and impulses” from our Creator and when we cultivate that “raw material”, we operate on God’s territory and are many steps closer to living at our highest and best.

If I had to simplify and sum up my daily focus and desire, it is to support people to live at their #HighestAndBest, and of course to live at my own.

So how do you operate at the highest and best version of who you were created to be? One answer (of several): ENERGY. Energy. Mental, emotional, physical, relational, and spiritual energy. We hear that TIME is our most valuable resource. I disagree. It’s energy. We could have all the time in the world, but without the energy to execute the vision, time diminishes in value; it continues on, with or without us, the minutes and the years go by, possibly squandered. But add energy to the time we’ve been given on this earth, and now we are onto something. Do you have the energy necessary to operate at your own personal highest and best? I have gone through a few seasons of life where I have not had that energy.

I read a book called The Prime by Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary right before I delivered my 4th precious life into the world. I started the program the book teaches one week after she was born. I had high expectations, but had no idea what was about to unfold in my life. About 3-4 months into the program, I started experiencing an energy level and mental clarity I hadn’t felt in a long time, actually in 6 years. It was an energy level and mental clarity I did not even realize I was missing. The fog lifted, the bone-weariness melted away, my thoughts cleared up, the alarm clock went off early and I popped out of bed, ready for the day, I started having a more focused quiet time before the sun came up, I did all weekend-long events and didn’t need a full day to recover, I started working more efficiently, I started Crossfit, I was more patient with my children, I slept better, I laughed more, it became easier to chose joy in the mundane routine of life, I wanted to give more energy to people, I was more open, ready, available to give, to love, to serve and to show up. I started operating and executing my life with a higher and better version of myself because I had the capacity of energy. It felt like an answer to prayer that I had not even prayed. I was back. Ready to operate again at my highest and best.

So, will you join me on this journey to discover the #HighestAndBest version of who you were created to be? Energy is one answer. There are many more. Let’s learn about them.

And Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary, wherever you are out there, I am creating a small movement in my world with your book, and it’s now on my bucket list to do lunch with you someday and visit your new center in India. I can’t wait.

There are many ugly 4-letter words. I am going to talk about one of them today. H – A – R – D. This is part one of two (maybe three).

It’s one of those unfriendly truths about life. Not that we should expect “hard” or have to like “hard” or look for things to be “hard”, it’s just that sometimes they are. Life can be hard. It sounds negative, but I think we can find good in it. It sounds defeating, but it can produce freedom when we lean into this truth.

“I can do hard things” became a private affirmation I would say to myself after the birth of our 3rd baby. At that time we had a 3-year old and 18 month old and a newborn. We were outnumbered and unprepared for the intensity of the constant care of these 3 babies. Yes, there was joy and fun and happiness. And it was also H – A – R – D. Remember how I like a checklist (include the link to that blog) because I thrive on a sense of accomplishment? Well, all checklists went out the window and nothing ever seemed to be even close to “done”. I found myself whispering under my breath throughout the day, “I can do hard things” – it gave me a sense of hope and strength.

When you read books about people’s lives and witness their success stories, the truth consistently shows up: H – A – R – D – there it is again. And it seems to be that the more positive outcomes, usually the more “hard” the journey involved. It’s almost the proving ground for growth. It’s like God is saying, “Can you be trusted with more? Are you going to see this through just when it’s easy or are you committed for the long run, even through the valleys? Are you going to learn to rely on me for strength or keep trying to do it yourself?”. “Hard” is a testing ground, a proving ground.

I stumbled upon this quote a few years ago which talks about “hard”. “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Beautiful people do not just happen. They are shaped and molded and transformed in the hardships. Adversity can be the tool God often uses to form us into a more beautiful version of the person He’s created us to be. Therefore, I’ll take hard when it comes and learn to rely on Him for my strength and transformation in the process.

I love a good checklist. It might be one of my top 10 most favorite things – a good old-fashioned checklist. Because a checklist means completion and accomplishment and progress. It gives me a sense of being in control, a sense of conquering. It’s how I start every project and it’s how I create victory; to one by one check off the list. When you have a checklist you can shout a 4-letter word – “DONE”! Oh the sweet satisfaction of “DONE”! It feels good.

But I have come to learn that there are some things in life that will never be done. It was a tough realization at first and I wrestled with it, not wanting to succumb to its truth. Why can’t everything be a checklist? Why can’t life be that orderly? Why can I not shout DONE at everything? As attractive as this first seemed to me, I have learned that if all of life was a checklist, it would be neat and clean, but it would lack heart and depth and joy and satisfaction that can come from the messiness of life.

The first time I became keenly aware of the truth that not all of life is a checklist was after I had my 1st baby, my son Ian (he’s 5 now and we love taking “funny-face-selfies” together). I can hear all you veteran moms out there giggling right now. After the feeding, clothing, bathing, changing, holding and playing was DONE it seemed I had to start all over again. It was a constant cycle that was never done. I could never seem to make the checkmark on the paper. I wrestled with this. I thought, “How can this be? I have been able to control most things in my life so far. Why not this?”

And then one day this truth lit up my soul – the best things in life are never done. What if we could put a checkmark by loving? How sad. What if there was a completion date on spiritual and personal growth? How empty. What if we could mark done by our friendships? How lonely. The best things in life are never done.

And now I am on a journey of investing more of myself into the things I can never mark “done” by. You know, those really significant things like family and marriage and babies and personal growth and relationships and tough conversations and time in God’s presence and quiet moments of being fully present and life experiences, those things. It’s messy, it’s complicated at times, it often requires me to die to myself. And praise God, it will never be DONE.

My personal hashtag and mantra this year is #IWillRise. I was inspired by the song “Ain’t No Grave” by David Crowder (check it out). A personal hashtag or theme or even one word can give incredible focus to your life and thinking.

One of the lines in the song is “ain’t no grave gonna hold me down”, which got me thinking about “graves” we create in our lives. Our graves can simply be habits that put a lid on our potential or self-inflicted burdens we were never meant to carry. A common grave we have all buried for ourselves, at least a time or two, is negative language we choose to use in the ongoing dialogue we have with ourselves. What if you got a transcript of your mental conversation, typed out and delivered on your desk tomorrow morning? We would all probably be shocked at the negativity and defeated language we choose to engage in. It’s time to RISE above that my friends. Let’s walk out of that grave…

And maybe your language isn’t negative, but I find it very interesting that we all usually talk about that which we do not want. Even simple comments like “I’m tired”, “I’m overwhelmed”, “I’m too busy” give energy and focus to the things we do not prefer. Thus we stay longer in a state of being that is not of our liking. Isn’t that interesting? What if we all learned to speak about what we prefer?

There’s a powerful quote I learned from a good friend of mine, Grace Keohohou. She says that the words you use after “I am” will come looking for you. “I am tired” and tired will find you. “I am overwhelmed” and the anxiety grows. “I am too busy” and life continues to lead you instead of you leading your life. What if we learned to say, “I have an abundance of opportunities I get to prioritize” instead of “I’m so busy”? I got that one from Grace too. That simple statement immediately switches my mind from scarcity to abundance.

What do you prefer today? How do you prefer to live? Define your answers to those questions and then RISE to it. And RISE out of the “graves” that hold you down.

This is my all-time most favorite picture of my daughter, Aria. She was 2 in this picture and is now 3 1/2. It was taken in Nova Scotia, Canada in December. The wind was piercing and harsh that day on the beach. Yet she faced it head on. She actually paused for a moment to turn in its direction and stay awhile. She owned it, didn’t back down and it even looks like she was enjoying the journey.

This post is not meant to be about my daughter. Instead it’s about failure. Like Aria sought out the piercing wind in her face without backing down, so we should actually seek out failure. Yes, seek it out. Like actually chase it down.

I love this quote by Ryan Leak, “What if chasing failure was the quickest way to succeed? Chasing failure took me further than chasing success ever did.”

So counterintuitive, right? We are so conditioned to only do the things we know we can succeed at. Because it doesn’t feel good to lose. But what a burdensome lid this places on our potential. I wonder what we will miss out on when we choose to only pursue the things we know we can win at? What would this world look like if we were all actually willing to “chase failure”? To stretch so far out of our comfort zones that it produces failure, but the kind of failure that also generates learning, growth, innovation, creativity, progress, influence and ultimately success for ourselves and those around us.

When in your life have you asked the question, “what if I fail?” Pause for 30 seconds (I dare you) and think back to that moment and think back to the challenge you faced. Now instead of wondering if you will fail, what if instead we all started asking, “What if I don’t?” Think about that. Imagine what it would look like. Where would you be? What would you do? What would you look like? Who would be with you? What’s the expression on your face? How are you walking? What are you wearing? How will your husband/wife or mom or children look at you? What are people saying about you? (Sit there for awhile and think about that)

What picture did you paint in your mind? Start with that vision and then just go out and pursue it and try to fail. You might. But at least you could say you did something about the life you really want to live.

Repeat this after me (using your own name, of course). “My name is Leah Lauchlan and I am about to fail. Or maybe I won’t.”

Well, here it is. First ever blog. I am feeling very adventurous and open and vulnerable and hopeful.

The following quote is something I wish I would have internalized earlier in life, but thankfully I did learn it and now deeply believe in it…

“Success is not about what you do. It’s about the person you become in the process.”

It’s truth. And it’s freeing. We are very motivated to cultivate our “outer world”; the part everyone sees and recognizes. So motivated that we can neglect the “inner world”; the part no one sees, but it’s in the ‘inner world” where we experience emotions like joy and peace and true satisfaction. Joy that can actually make your body feel lighter. A deep, abiding peace that allows you to lay your head on the pillow and sleep soundly. The kind of satisfaction where you can sit alone, with no cell phone, no entertainment and just be present in the moment, enjoying it for what it is, and you actually feel that moment in such a real way. That kind of satisfaction. What is success and accomplishment if it’s not accompanied with joy and peace and true satisfaction? These are often left in the dust when our focus is primarily on the “outer world”.

Something my dad always said when I was growing up is, “It’s all apart of your education.” I was always so irritated by that statement. Partly because he said it in moments when I least wanted to hear it – moments of adversity and frustration and disappointment. But somewhere along the way I realized what he was actually saying. He was teaching me and my four siblings that failure and adversity are apart of the journey. Learning and growth are apart of the journey. Failure can often be the best teacher. I’m grateful for that lesson. It planted a seed that would later take root in my heart and blossom and be a source of motivation to develop ME, the person. The heart and soul and mind and emotions of ME. And one day I woke up and that was my priority and pursuit and it’s been a satisfying, joyful and peaceful journey.

We are often in a state of waiting to be successful. Waiting for tangible proof that we are in fact a success and something of worth. When we can internalize that success is about the person we become in the process, we can create success everyday. We don’t have to wait. We can choose it today and tomorrow and the next day. And when the tangible proof does come, our hearts and souls are prepared to enjoy it more deeply. Otherwise success is ultimately unsatisfying. It can often only produce more longing and wanting and waiting. We don’t have to wait. We can choose it today.

When you internalize this concept it will open up a whole new world.

So here is my invitation to join me on this journey. To learn to put your #BestFaceForward. Your best self is your gift to the world. Let’s find him or her.